It is known in vehicles to provide an armrest in a door having an integrated pull handle (also known as a grab handle) to allow the occupant to pull the door shut. The pull handle is designed to withstand tens of thousands of pulls over its working life and, accordingly, must be very strong.
Known pull handles are typically of one-piece design to meet requirements of strength and durability. Door pull handles are designed to meet specific deflection (flexing) requirements during a side impact event to minimize vehicle-inward movement of the handle in a side impact event while at the same time providing to the user a solid feel. Because the position of the pull handle is near the location of the seated occupant, it is somewhat challenging to satisfy the force vs. deflection requirements established for occupant safety while at the same time satisfying requirements of pull strength durability.
Some efforts have been made to overcome the problems of known pull handle designs. The most common solution to improving deflection of the pull handle is to remove structure. This is achieved by forming notches or grooves (devices designed to weaken the part) into the pull handle to initiate flex and fracture. However, this approach weakens the pull handle and adversely affects durability. In addition, the flexing or fracturing itself is difficult to predict and as a result often these features do not behave as predicted, resulting in additional changes late in the program development cycle.
A less complex and more predictable solution to the problems of known pull handle designs is to simply move the pull handle away from the occupant. While improving deflection, this approach negatively affects ergonomics since the handle must be placed too far forward for the comfort of the occupant. In addition, this arrangement may reduce or eliminate package space for window and door controllers.
Accordingly, as in so many areas of vehicle design, there is room for improvement in the art of pull handle construction.